Connecting with 4.7 million users on Instagram alone, Sadie Robertson Huff has amassed a devoted following of her positive, Christian message online. Huff spent time at the NRB convention in Nashville to talk authenticity and how Christians can use the voice God has given each of us to share the message of Christ.
Robertson Huff’s NRB Forum, titled “Advice to Connect with and Reach Younger Demographics,” was presented by He Gets Us, a nationwide campaign that sparks curiosity, discovery, and connection around the person and teachings of Jesus.
Noelle Garnier, director of public policy and communications at NRB, introduced special guest Sadie Robertson Huff and moderator Julia Jeffress Sadler.
Huff, 24, is the founder of “Live Original” and host of “WHOA, That’s Good” podcast. She is also known for her roles on Duck Dynasty, God’s Not Dead, and rising to be the first runner-up on season 19 of Dancing with the Stars. Her latest book, “Who Are You Following? Pursuing Jesus in a Social Media Obsessed World” released in February. She also recently launched an online community and app “LO Sister,” which champions women to live out their purpose.
Sadler is the host of “Unapologetic,” a licensed professional counselor, and Next Gen Minister at First Baptist Church of Dallas. She is the bestselling author of “Pray Big Things.”Sadler began the conversation by asking Huff, “How can we reach this next generation with Christian media, and why is that important?”
Huff commented on the enormous amount of time that her young audience spends online, saying, “To be able to be a light in that space is so important, because they are already there.” She added, “I love what Jesus said, ‘You are the light of the world.’ He talks about how you don’t light a lamp and put it under a stand… We are supposed to be the light of the media.”
Huff described having meaningful conversations about faith through direct messages, Instagram, and YouTube videos, and she has seen people’s lives truly change after digital media opened the door for them to find Jesus. She also said her ministry, Live Original, has kept her accountable to use her God-given, authentic voice for good.
“I would encourage anyone with social media to be authentic to you, to the ministry that God has given you, to the voice that God’s given you,” she said. “It’s so refreshing when someone is real, and someone believes what they’re saying, and someone has conviction behind what they’re saying.”
Sadler asked Huff about how she balances what she puts out on social media and the best way to approach it from a Christian perspective.
“What I want to show on social media is that I’m a whole person,” Huff said. “God created us with the ability to laugh and have fun… and He also created us to have wisdom, and the desire to pursue Him in worship.”
Lighthearted and engaging social media content provides a point of connection, Huff added, that leads to the opportunity to share the gospel more directly.
“With social media, that’s a way for me to get to know people, and they can get to know me, so they trust me, and they like me, and we have a relationship,” she said. “Then, when I speak, I speak very clearly and very boldly, and I don’t water down things I’m saying about the gospel of Jesus.”
NRB is an international association of Christian communicators with more than 1,100 member organizations reaching millions of viewers, listeners, and readers. The Association exists to represent the Christian broadcasters’ right to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. NRB works to equip, advocate for, and encourage Christian communicators.